Friday, July 31, 2015

Funtastic Unit Studies - Science for Homeschoolers! #REVIEW

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Funtastic Unit Studies sent me their Science Unit Studies For Homeschoolers and Teachers for review.  This is a physical book that includes science unit studies for ages 4-13.  The studies are broken up into two age groups:  4-7 and 8-13. 


Chapters for ages 4-7:

Our Senses
The Human Body
Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life
Animals
Insects and Their Kin
Fun with Magnets
Stars and Planets
Health
Beginning Plants
Animal Ecology

Chapters for ages 8-13:

Insects
Microscopes and Invisible Creatures
Atoms and Molecules
Matter
Chemistry Fun
Weather
Force and Motin
Simple Machines
Light and Color
Plants II

For this review I worked on the first unit Our Senses with my 4 year old.  It was a topic I wanted to cover with him this year. Each unit starts with a large supply list.  Most of these things were items we already had (toothpicks, paper, ice, rice, food coloring ... to name a few.) Having a 4 year old I had to do a little prep work by reading the chapter and seeing what he was truly capable of doing and enjoying.  (I want science to be 100% fun at this age.) Since their were 7 activities it was easy to see which ones would work and which wouldn't.  I was even able to modify to make it fit better.  I feel like he has a full grasp of this unit - senses- after working through the activities and stories! 





For example one activity was to get a potato, toothpicks and some veggies.  Then have the child use the veggies to make the different parts for the senses.  I didn't have enough variety of veggies (and my son has some sensory issues with foods) - so we modified by using a Mr. Potato Head.  


My Thoughts:

I really like this book.  It was exactly what I was looking for in a science book for my little guy this year.  Plenty of activities to explore science - great for hands on learners like Jace.  It was easy to modify things to fit my child's age and sensory issues which was a big plus for me as well.  The units don't take long a week or two at the max which is also nice because you can cover quite a bit over a school year.  I also liked that the age range of 4-7 means we can revisit this again next year and he will pick up more as he matures. 


Overall it was a hit in our house.  My only suggestion would have been to have the supply list broken up by activity as well as the master list.  It would make things a tad easier to plan.  I also added a reading book about senses to our unit and I would probably do that for the others as well.  While there were no suggested reading selections - it was easy enough to look on my shelf for an apprioate go along. I'd also like to note we only used the younger kids section - but the older kids section includes tests and worksheets to make it completely age appropriate for the big kids.  This is really a book that will last you many years so to me that is a great investment.

Want to see more?  Check out two sample units here


Check out what the rest of the Crew has to say about Funtastic Unit Studies! 





Funtastic Unit Studies Review



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